Merlin Project 2026: Benefits, Features & Pricing

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On this page

Overview
Pricing and Plans
Features
User Reviews

Overview

Merlin Project

4.7

(22)

Pricing

Starting at $4.99 per month

About Merlin Project

Merlin Project is a project management (PM) solution natively written for macOS and iOS. It caters to businesses of all sizes across various industries. The key features include work breakdown (gantt chart, netplan and more), kanban board (agile), mind mapping, resource management, resource pool, employee assignment report generating, grouping, styling and export/import options (MS Project, MS Excel, Mindmanager, XML, OPML and many more).

Merlin Project allows users to create procedural structures with dependencies between individual activities and groups, set the duration of individual activities and define fixed milestones. Users can enter budgets and costs, respond to time-plan changes and update projects' progress. The solution has the ability to generate a variety of reports and workflow charts, depending on the nature of the project.

Merlin Project offers a subscription fee for macOS. It also offers an iOS app for mobile devices. In-person training sessions are available in select countries in Europe in addition to online training courses, email support and product documentation available on the website.

Merlin Project Screenshots

Merlin Project Pricing and Plans

Starting price: $4.99 per month

Free Trial

Free Version

Merlin project for MAC

$19.99

flat rate, per month

Plan includes:

Attachments
Collaboration
Display
Export
Import
Multiple Languages
Project Planning
Views

Merlin Project for iPad

$9.99

flat rate, per month

Plan includes:

Activity Notes
Advanced Planning Parameters
Attachments
Automatic Resource Leveling
Collaboration
Costs/Budgets
Create a New Resource Pool
Create New User-Defined Fields
Critical Path View
Dark Mode

Merlin Project Express

$4.99

flat rate, per month

Plan includes:

Activity Notes
Costs/Budgets
Critical Path View
Dark Mode
Dependencies
Gantt Chart
Hide Non-Working Time
Import
Milestones
Multiple Languages

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Merlin Project Features

Popular features found in Project Management
Billing & Invoicing
Budget Management
Document Management
File Sharing
Gantt/Timeline View
Issue Management
Kanban Board
Milestone Tracking
Multiple Projects
Prioritization
Resource Management
Time & Expense Tracking
More features of Merlin Project
Access Controls/Permissions
Activity Tracking
Agile Methodologies
Brainstorming
Calendar Management
Categorization/Grouping
Collaboration Tools
Commenting/Notes
Customizable Fields
Customizable Reports
Customizable Templates
Data Import/Export
Document Storage
Drag & Drop
Due Date Tracking
File Management
Forecasting
Group Scheduling
Idea Management
Ideation
IT Risk Management
Lead Management
Marketing Automation
Mind Maps
Mobile Access
Mobile App
Network Diagram
Percent-Complete Tracking
Planning Tools
Portfolio Management
Progress Tracking
Project Management
Project Planning
Project Planning/Scheduling
Project Templates
Project Time Tracking
Project Tracking
Real-time Scheduling
Reporting/Project Tracking
Reporting & Statistics
Resource Allocation & Planning
Resource Scheduling
Risk Analysis
Risk Assessment
Risk Management
Risk Reporting
Risk Scoring
Scheduling
Task Management
Task Planning
Task Progress Tracking
Task Scheduling
Template Management
Templates
Third-Party Integrations
To-Do List
Traditional Methodologies
User Management
Visualization

Merlin Project User Reviews

Overall Rating

4.7

Ratings Breakdown

73%

27%

Secondary Ratings

Ease of Use

4.4

Value for money

4.6

Customer support

4.4

Functionality

4.8

Olivier G.

Verified reviewer

Real Estate

Self-Employed

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Reviewed August 2024

Project planning with no alternative for Mac OS

Generally speaking, since I've been using this application for 6 years, I won't be changing applications because it meets 95% of my needs. The exported planning documents are easy to edit and easy to understand for everyone.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

As a long-term user of Merlin Project Management, I'm really pleased with the functions offered. The management of attachments (files, tracking lists, risk management) is a real plus. The ease of configuration, layout and export is perfect. There's no need to go into long menus to use the functions, everything is managed from the graphical interface. When needed, support is perfect, fast and exhaustive.

Cons:

The formatting functions are a little less easy to manage. The calculation functions are missing. These 2 points are minor. The main functions that should be implemented are: - The ability to create replicas of tasks within a schedule (which would then update themselves) - the ability to create ‘hammock’ tasks - the ability to create a repetitive task that only takes up one line - simpler filter functions (for example, filtering a task and all its sub-tasks directly with 1 click)

Vendor Response

Thank you for being a valued user for so long and for your thoughtful feedback! I’ve forwarded your feature requests to our management team. While I can’t promise immediate changes, your input is highly valued and will be considered as we work to improve our services. Your feedback helps shape the future of our platform, so thank you for sharing your ideas! We might already have a solution for some of your suggestions: For hammock tasks: Click on the middle activity that should become a hammock task. Then, go to the inspector and set the alignment to "long." The middle activity will then spread across the full length of the gap between the other two tasks. For simpler filter functions: Select the activities you want to view, then go to the detail view (located in the Tool bar next to the inspector icon). This will display all the selected activities in detail. Hope that helps!

Replied August 2024

Diaferia A.

Verified reviewer

Individual & Family Services

51-200 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed November 2024

Merling Project; Underrated Project Management Tool

It was perfect since i no longer struggle with the management of ongoing project as it makes it easy and much efficient. It also ensures task management works as expected

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

makes project management, project controlling as well task management efficient.

Cons:

multi project management requires a lot of time to set up

Reasons for switching to Merlin Project

I needed a product that is easily customizable to meet my company needs at the same time integrates well with our existing system

Vendor Response

Dear Diaferia, thank you so much for your kind words. I have shared them with the team and we are happy to have you as a Merlin Project user. If you are interested in collaborating on a case study, feel free to contact us at office@projectwizards.net We‘d love to learn more about how you use our software.

Replied November 2024

John S.

Used unspecified for unspecified

Review source

Reviewed January 2010

A simple but very powerful alternative

Since Merlin reads and writes MS Project files, I think it is a viable alternative for almost any project manager for almost any project. For additional information see our website (http://www.am-info.biz/Project%20Management/Merlin/merlin.html or http://www.merlin2.net)

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Customer support

Pros:

I believe that Merlin is the best project management software available today. It has a very clean and intuitive interface but it is also very feature rich. We have been so impressed with its performance that not only do we use it but we also offer Merlin training and consulting in North America.

Cons:

Merlin does not run on the Windows platform. Users in a Windows or mixed environment can, however, purchase the Merlin server edition which publishes project information in an html format. In this sense it is cross platform.

Marc-André L.

Verified reviewer

Construction

11-50 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Reviewed September 2024

From a very satisfied French-Canadian general contractor

Been using Merlin for about five years and would not go without it anymore. It gives us en edge over our competitors. We give a copy of the planning to our customers once we sign a contract, so they can follow the progress of their project. We are probably the only general contrator in our region doing so.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

We are a general contractor building mainly houses in the 2 M$ range. Our project plannings have on average 200 lines ; we include all of our tasks in order not to forget any of them. Since we have certified delivery dates, we keep a close eye on all of our plannings wich is easy with Merlin . Using Merlin help us sleep tight and relaxed because we know we have all planned. We appreciate the ease of operation and the numerous reporting facilities and the possibility of merging different projects giving us an overall view of all our running projects. I am gratefull that we have a full French version (because we are not yet fluent in Deutsch).

Cons:

It's not a "least like", but I would love to be able to add or remove any field directly in a report instead of selecting the fields in, let say, Échéancier (yes, I am running Merlin in French) and then generating a report out of it. It would be so easy to modify a report to any customer liking. We would also love the be able to generate spreadsheets from the programme data base.

Reasons for switching to Merlin Project

MicroSoft Project does not work on Mac. And we believe there should be a good competitor to choose from.

Vendor Response

Hi Marc-André, Thank you so much for your kind words! We're thrilled to hear that Merlin Project has become an essential part of your project planning, helping you manage tasks with confidence and deliver successful results to your clients. Regarding your request for report customizations, please feel free to reach out to us at support@projectwizards.net. We’d be happy to explore how we can assist with your needs. We’ve also noted your feedback about spreadsheet generation. While we can’t make any promises at this moment, we’ll definitely share your suggestions with our management team for consideration. We're always looking for ways to improve Merlin, so if there’s anything else we can do to make the software even more valuable to you, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Thank you again for your continued support over the past five years!

Replied September 2024

Mahmoud E.

Verified reviewer

Pharmaceuticals

11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Reviewed September 2024

Perfect piece of software

There is a number of software that I bought and never regret buying...Merlin is definitely one of those.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

1- Very intuitive 2- Simplicity 3- work as project manager do

Cons:

1- availability of direct purchase. I bought my software out of pocket. I don't like subscription. 2- compatibility with more mind mapping software. 3- the integration with OSX Reminders and Calendar need some improvements (two direction sync, ability to sync the attached files as well) 4-Easier ability to modify Report template (to suit the company needs.

Reasons for switching to Merlin Project

I am a Mac user that work in windows environment and needed an alternative to MS project

Vendor Response

Hi Mahmoud, thank you so much for your positive feedback! We are very happy to be part of your "never regret buying"-list.

Replied September 2024

Martin M.

Verified reviewer

Information Technology and Services

2-10 employees

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Reviewed September 2024

Perfect project management software for Macs

It's the go-to project management software for the Mac. Developed by real Mac users. It just feels right.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

A real Mac app - not just a cross-platform solution - from the UI to every aspect of the solution (sync, etc.).

Cons:

Unfortunately it's only available on a subscription base

Reasons for choosing Merlin Project

Merlin is more complete and the team members behind are real project management pros.

Reasons for switching to Merlin Project

It's just a joy to use and a real Mac app

Vendor Response

Hi Martin, thank you for your kind words. We truly appreciate your feedback. If there is anything else we can help you with, please let us know. We are always happy to help.

Replied September 2024

Dario V.

Verified reviewer

Computer Software

11-50 employees

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed March 2020

The absolute best Project Planning software

As I said before, what I like the best about Merlin Project is that it allows me to build a plan almost as the request happens, and it's always a great process because building the plan always helps you visualize its length and complexity. Many other MS Project clones have the main features but none have the usability and experience that Merlin Project has. This is the best software I use regularly on my Mac.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Being a user of planning software since the 90s (Super Project Plus) and having used Microsoft Project, Primavera and a number of other tools like Asana, I've grown used to Merlin Project so bad that I can't get myself to use any other tool for this. Not only the looks are great, the features are thorough and it's possible to quickly sketch a project almost as it's being thought of, using keyboard shortcuts, and also create complex chronograms with assigned resources and budgets. Keeping control of projects is also very easy as it permits to move around tasks when everything starts not to happen as planned :)

Cons:

The main problem is that it's Mac-only. Being able to export files for Microsoft Project is nice but it's not 100% compatible so I frequently end being the only user and maintainer of the plans.

Reasons for switching to Merlin Project

MS Project is Windows-only, so initially I ported to clones or online options like Trello, Monday and Asana, but when I found Merlin I knew I'd found the option I needed.

Vendor Response

Thanks for the flowers! I agree it is Mac only, but this is on the other side one of the reason why it is that good. Oh, did you tried the iOS version on an iPad. It is at least as good.

Replied March 2020

Allan Del Cris T.

Verified reviewer

Outsourcing/ Offshoring

5001-10000 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed February 2025

Merlin Review as ATS in our organization.

Merlin is a very great ATS tools! Been using it since I was hired in this company and never give us a trouble.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

It's fast, easy to navigate and integration seems easy as well which really helps our organization a lot.

Cons:

I think the data extracted is a bit messy upon viewing in Excel. But I don't know if I'm doing it right, I'm not quite sure actually.

Vendor Response

Thank you for your review! We truly appreciate that you enjoy our software. If there is anything we can help you with, let us know at support@projectwizards.net

Replied February 2025

Kerushan G.

Verified reviewer

Computer Software

2-10 employees

Used weekly for less than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed April 2019

Best project manager for Mac

For our business, as a consulting firm, we depend on Merlin Project and we are happy with our choice in PM software, considering that we have a wealth of options out there.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

This is the only software I have found that allows the user to go from a mind map to gantt. This was my bare minimum requirement because this aligns perfectly to my project workflow.

Cons:

It is very functional and thus can get a bit complex and overwhelming from time to time.

Verified

Reviewer

Government Administration

51-200 employees

Used weekly for less than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed September 2018

The best project management software for my mobile work style.